Comfort Zone
by moviepunker
Summary: Buffy is ready for a change with her boyfriend. Angel isn't ready to change. After their breakup, Buffy needs to get back at Angel for not taking her more seriously. Spike is Buffy's way to Angel's heart.
1. New Beginnings

The halls were the same. The floors still squeeked annoyingly as hundreds of people pushed and glided around each other, yet something was different. Yes, it was my last year of highschool but it had nothing to do with the school. It was me. I was different. spending the summer at camp with Willow and Xander in Spain was enchanting. the days were long and beautiful, the food was amazing, not to mention the guys. oh the guys. It also helped that we had the best advisor, Giles. We all loved him. Yea he was bookish and british, a double threat, but he was also super duper smart and wise-like. Yep things had changed. I had changed and I hope it can stay that way.

"Earth to Buffy!"

"Ground control to the Buffster"

"Oh. wha- hi!" I said as I snapped out of my first of hundreds of daily spaces of the day.

"What's the dealio guys?"

"Well, we just got our schedules," Willow sounded hushed.

"Yep."

"You ok Xander?"

"It's grim Buff." Xander said.

"What? tell me"

"Well," Willow continued.

"UH HUH" I demanded

"We have the same schedule!" they shouted in unison.

"Bah. You dorks! I thought it was bad like I was put in gym again or something."

"Well that too but at least we can suffer together." Willow offered.

"Really? our senior year and we have to take gym class" I wasnt happy about this at all.

"Well if we didnt skip every class to go get smoothies instead last year, we wouldntve had to" Willow said as we both turned to stare at Xander.

"What? I won free smoothies for a year remember? why waste them" he said as if apologizing.

"Fine," I said as I closed my locker.

"Buffy."

I jumped when the face revealed was so not the one I was ready to see yet.

"Angel! you scared the happies all out of my happy zone" I said as I gestured to myself.

"I missed you and your weird expressions," he said with a smirk.

I turned to get my books as he went in for a kiss. He kissed my check as I faced the floor embarrassed. oops guess I'll have to explain that later.

"When did you get back?" Angel asked clearing his throat.

"Saturday. Hey can we talk later? I have to get to class."

"I'll find you at lunch. The usual place?" He said with desperation in his eyes.

"Uhm," I looked around nervously not knowing how to respond.

"I'll see you there." He said as he took my hand.

"At lunch then." I let my backpack slip a little so I could let go of his hand and turned to walk away.

I gave Xander and Willow a "ill tell you later" look as I slipped my arms through theirs and pranced off to class.

* * *

"William, you better get up for school or you're gonna miss the bus!"

"Will. I don't like William Frank, remember?" I said as I grabbed a piece of toast and walked towards the door.

"Will. Sorry. So, I'm going to have to stay late today for new employee training, will you be fine for dinner?"

"Whatever," I said as Frank started to yell, but I didn't care didn't want to be late for sodding school now did I? There was no way in hell I was taking the bus to school, ever. If Frank hadn't arranged for the bloody guidance counciler to make sure I was in first period, I woudln't go to school at all.

Why did all first days start off the same? People staring, whispering, and oh the bloody staring until I was able to find a place to be not seen. At least this time I was coming to a new school at the beginning of the year instead of mid term. Most people were new, so I wouldn't be noticed too much more than everyone else. I would be able to disappear into the midst of all these pathetic creatures known as my "peers."

Locker 103, a bottom locker. bloody hell. Fighting with my locker, I backed up a bit only to be knocked over by a huge bull.

"Sorry buddy," he said nonchalantly as he scurried over to some little blonde a few lockers down.

"Right, sorry my arse" I said under my breath, picking up my back and walking to first period to get myself spotted so I could skip out of here.

First days suck.


	2. Unexpected

**Hey guys. This is something I thought about on a whim, so all the ideas are coming out as I write the chapters. Thanks for reading. Please comment and let me know what you think of the story so far. Also, Buffy and Spike might not be meeting for a few chapters more. But keep reading, it will get really good I promise! Enjoy!**

"So what was that all about?" Xander said as he nodded his head towards the door.

Squeeking in, "Yea I thought you had your head in the clouds about when you would see Angel next." Willow says.

Xander began to make kissy noises and mim-mick Buffy. "Oh Angel, I wonder what he's doing right now. I bet he's thinking of me and writing my name all over the walls! Mrs. Buffy-Angel."

I turned bright read and chucked a rolled up piece of paper at Xander. Willow laughed but soon choked up her voice box.

"Shut up! I did not do that ALL summer."

"Well?" Willow asked with intense bewilderment.

"What?" I didn't want to dive into the conversation during homeroom: Biology.

"Spill Buffy!" Willow wouldn't let it go.

How could I tell them? How could I tell them that I was in love with Angel. Deeply in love. Yea, I had been his "arm candy" for the past two years, but we were never serious. I was ready to get serious, and I hoped he was too. How could I tell my two best friends that I was ready to give my whole self, emotional and physical, to Angel. They wouldn't understand. They've never thought that Angel really cared about me, and I know that they wouldn't believe that I actually truely care about him.

"Buffy...B-U-F-F-Y?" Xander poking me with each letter until I snapped out of my daze.

"Huh?"

Willow and Xander were both tossing their heads to the front of the class.

"Buffy Summers?"

The teacher was taking roll, and everyone was looking at me like they always did. Probably thinking the same thing, "How could Angel ever have anything to do with her?"

"Oh, here! Sorry !"

Looking up briefly from his clipboard he said, "Mhm." And then quickly moved on to the rest of the class.

"Oh, I'm already his favorite, I can tell." I felt like doing a head slam into the desk, but it would only bring more attention to me.

"Buffy, promise you'll tell us at lunch?" Willow was serious, I could tell because she had her gentle eyes on.

"Um, I kind of promised Angel I'd talk to him then." I waited for the yelling. It never came because, well duh Buffy, we were in class. Instead they both turned to face the class. They weren't too happy that I'd be talking to Angel about what I was feeling before them.

* * *

Sunnydale. More like Sodding Crummydale. That Guidance Councilor stayed the entire class. She was taking notes about each move I made, each noise I made and she even followed me to the loo! She didn't think I saw her, but I did. I tried to think of a way to ditch her, but she wouldn't have any of it. I was committed to the day now. At least four of my six teachers had seen me. If I didn't show up to any of their classes, Frank would have my arse.

It was lunch time now. I didn't have any money to pay for lunch, so I decided to find an empty room to hide myself in. Walking down the halls, I wondered why I didn't care enough to pass last year, if I had then I wouldn't be in school right now. I'd be off picking up birds somewhere in Europe where I was supposed to be. Instead, I got trashed half of the year and failed all my classes. Being a senior twice 'round definitely set my freedom trail back a year or two.

"Locked. Sod it all." I said as I slid down the door and sat on the floor in the hallway.

"Need something in there?"

I looked up expecting that hideous guidance counciler but instead found a girly punk chick holding a discman.

"You know they have things called iPods and what not nowadays." I said gesturing to her out of date machine.

"Can't afford one. Besides it makes me feel authentic. You need to get in the room?"

"Not really. I just needed a fag or something. Needed to hide out ya know?"

"A fag? Ah. You're new here? I'm Darla. I'm kind of an expert at the whole hiding thing. Here let me help you." She knelt down and began fidgiting with the lock.

"So you're some sort of magic-picking tape player magician huh?"

She looked up and smirked at me.  
"It's just Darla, mysterious foreign boy."

"Right. I'm Will."

The door swung open and she walked in not looking back. I followed her in not knowing really what to expect, but it didn't matter. She seemed alright, and anything was better than sitting alone in the lunch room.


	3. Used

"Hey."

My thoughts were interrupted by a warm hand grabbing mine as I spun around in shock, I blurted out, "I kissed someone else!"

"What?" Angel oddly didn't look like he seemed to care.

"In Spain. I was trying to figure out how to tell you. Which is why I have been all bad moody. I just thought you should know before we go any further with this conversation."

Angel just stared at me with those gorgeous eyes of his. He looked around and then took my hand as we walked towards the spot he first kissed me. We always met there after that time, whenever we needed to hash things out. I knew it was serious because he didn't say a word as we walked down the halls. I only hoped that he'd forgive me and allow me to tell him what else was on my mind: love.

"Ok, we're here. Can we talk now?" I was super nervous.

"Buffy, it's ok. I've been meaning to talk to you too." He smirked, which I hadn't seen him do in a while. It sent a weird kind of flirty vibe, but not towards me.

"Before you say anything, I just want you to know that I didn't even know the guy I kissed. Will and I went out one night without Xander and got a little drunk. We ended up at this Karaoke bar, and after I sang "Hero," this guy came up and told me I had a really great voice, and he kissed me. It was literally only two seconds, then I was like, "woah Buffy, you have a boyfriend that you l..." I almost let the word slip, but by then it was too late.

"You?" He only got out the one word, but I knew what the rest of the sentence was going to lead up to. He stood up to look out the door window to make sure no one was coming.

I could only look down at my hands that were practically shaking. I wished he would notice and take my hands, but he never did.

"Angel?"

"Buffy, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"I thought we were talking."

"I met someone."

"Like a famous person?" I knew what he meant, but joking about it made me not want to smack him across the face.

"I've never called you my girlfriend before. I thought you were okay with that. I mean, we've had a lot of fun times right?" He picked up my chin with his hand and looked at me in his sincere way, but I only felt like he was patronizing me.

I looked away and started to walk towards the door.

"Wait, Buffy I think you should know, she's transferring here tomorrow."

"I thought you cared about me Angel. I was ready to give you everything."

"Woah, Buffy, You're an awesome girl. I'd love to still be friends, but I'm going to graduate and so are you. Did you think this was going to be forever? I can't be attached my last year of highschool. Neither should you. You'll see, soon enough you'll have guys lining up to ask you out." This time he was headed for the door.

"I never wanted anyone else," I said as he turned before he left me in the dark closet alone.

"I'm sorry Buffy." He said as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Well this is better than I expected my first day to be," I said after Darla and I walked out of the room from having a good snog.

"Sorry, I can be a bit over dramatic."

"Nah, it happens most times when girls find out I'm from England."

She passed me a piece of paper with her number scribbled on it.

"Whut's this for, huh?"

"In case you ever need another door opened," She said peering up at me from the hallway floor.

"So if you're so good at hiding, why do seem to stick out like a sore thumb?"

"Most people ignore me because their afraid my weirdness will rub off on them. The stranger I look and act, the more people stay away from me. It comes in handy from time to time."

"Wish dressing weird had that effect on me. I had to retire my favorite jacket because all people ever do is talk behind my back."

"It's because their in awe."

I slid down next to her and watched her fiddle with her wretched tape player.  
"Now what would they be in awe of? Little ole me? Nah."

"Why not? You're hot, and mysterious. They just don't want their fantasies to be let down."

"You're one crazy bird."

"It's true. See people all have preconcieved notions about people from the second they see them. They see you and they think that you're some kind of bad boy with a good heart who secretly listens to coldplay and watches soap operas."

Passions. I do love Passions, but I couldn't let her know that!

"Sod off. Coldplay? Who listens to Coldplay? Try Van Halen. Or even Prince for bloody sake. But coldplay? Why Coldplay?"

I looked down and saw Darla putting a tape into it's case: Coldplay. Bloody hell. I'll have to make up for that somehow.

"Dunno, you have that vibe."

"Oh so now I'm givin off vibes am I? How do you know all this?"

"Told you, I'm invisible, gives me a lot of time to observe."

The bell began to ring, but I couldn't stand being stuck in this hell for another three hours.

I turned to Darla and said, "Wanna be invisible together?"


	4. The Master

**Hey! Hope you are enjoying the story so far! Please comment, because it will help me know where to take the story. I have a general idea, but reader comments really help me! Thanks!**

"Are you okay?"

"Buffy?"

"I don't know Xan, maybe we should take her to the nurse."

Willow and Xander were sitting next to me on a bench in the hall. The bell was ringing, but it might as well have been the gates of hell opening because there was no way I was going to be able to move at the moment. I could hear Xander and Willow talking, but nothing they were saying was registering with my brain. All I could hear was Angel over and over again saying those three words. They weren't even the three words I had been waiting for over two years for him to say. Instead they were a soft whisper of shame, pity and not at all apologetic: "I'm Sorry Buffy."

The next thing I knew, water was being splashed in my face.

"Hey! What's the big deal?" I said as a napkin was immediately presented for me to take.

"We have to get to class Buffy. Lunch is over. Let's go. We'll talk later." Willow used short and sweet sentences when she knew I was going to freak out. Somehow she always knew how to make my day better, even when the worst things were happening.

"Unfortunately Buff, I regret to inform you that our next class is gym." Xander sighed a big but comfortable sigh. Then he handed me my gym clothes and walked off to the boys locker room.

"I can't do it."

"Sure you can." Willow said as she took my hand and guided me to a stall to change.

I sat in that stall for what seemed like forever slowly exchanging my "new cute, 'get Angel to love me' first day of senior year-outfit" for my poorly washed re-usable gym clothes. I stepped out of the stall and burst out laughing as I saw Willow struggling to find her way through her clothes.

"Need some help?"

"Desperately," Willow said as she slumped into a ball on a chair.  
"Thanks Buffy. You know, I will wait for as long as you need to tell me whatever's the matter."

"Angel dumped me."

"Well, that was fast." Willow's eyes got big. "I mean the you getting over your sadness time in order to tell me! Not the whole Angel dumping you being fast, because well...who would have seen that coming." Willow looked everywhere but me nervously.

"It's okay Will. You and Xander were right. He never really cared about me. But maybe one day he will. I think if he sees how much I've changed, he'll get over himself and see that we're meant to be together."

"Right, well until then, let's get our sweat on. Eh?"

"I'm so not looking forward to this." I said as I put my arm around Willow and walked towards the gym.

* * *

"For pete's sake do I have to?"

"Fifth Period, William Pratt, looks like..yep Gym. There you go."

"It's Will." I corrected her.

The sodding councilor caught me trying to sneak out of school. Darla had already rejected my invitation to ditch which was no surprise to me but I had hoped that she'd come. I had never had a girlfriend, but maybe I could make something work with Darla. I'm not much for relationship type things, but finding rooms to "hide" in during lunch time would suffice for me. Right, so I was almost in the clear, when out of no where that crazy bint of a guidance councilor popped out of no where! Dragged my sorry arse back to class and shoved me into the gym.

"There's no way I'm wearing this. I'd rather go in my knickers."

"You have to wear the school regulated outfit for Physical activities William." The gym teacher said to me as he handed me the shortest shorts that I've ever seen boys forced to wear in my life.

"I prefer Will" I mumbled as I snatched the clothes away from him.

"And I prefer Master, we can't all get what we want. I don't have time to remember requests from students, you'll be called whatever I call you, Pratt."

"Why, yes Master," I said under my breath as I entered the sodding most rank place I've ever encountered in my life. I mean, I live with Frank, but the two of us put together could never create something as horrid as the smell that emitted from the boys locker room. Worst of all, the windows were barred. No escape. Bloody Hell.

"It helps if you change before, that way you don't have to come in here at all." A small red headed boy said sitting on the bench next to me, obviously aware of the disgusted face I was making at the whole situation.

"I like girls." I scoffed as I turned away, not wanting to make friends right now in the least of places the boys locker room!

"As a frequenter of gym class, I just thought I'd offer some tips. I'm Oz, and don't worry, I like girls too." He said as he finished tying his shoe and was so lucky to be dressed and able to enter the gym. I don't mean to come off as a jerk. I'm just not so up to date on my social interaction skills. Maybe I can blame Frank for that. Darla didn't seem to mind my lack of the talking stuff. Chap seemed alright, maybe I'll talk to him some other time.

"It's gonna be a long year." I sighed as I finished up, and exited the locker room in my bloody too short and hellishly tight "School Regulated Physical Activity" straight jacket.


End file.
